Gravely Speaking

Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia

McCLATCHEY

Devereaux Fore McClatchey III

June 1, 906 – August 30, 1993

Dorothy E. Methvin McClatchey

May 8, 1907 – June 1, 2009

Devereaux and Dorothy McClatchey had a large art collection from their travels.  To grace their family plot they chose two statues.  One statue tucked under an evergreen on the plot depicts a mother and child with writing that says, “God is love.  That is all we know on earth and all we need to know—“.  The other is a woman with her arms clutched and her head bowed, possibly portraying sorrow and grief.

Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia

John Watts was a New York political figure who served not only under the Crown but as a member of Congress after the American Revolution. He served in several other official positions, too, which are listed on the backside of the marble pedestal upon which his imposing statue rests.   So his ancestor would not be forgotten, the larger-than-life bronze statue of Watts was commissioned by his namesake, Major General Watts de Peyster, and sculpted by George E. Bissell.  Watts is depicted wearing fur-trimmed robe and a judge’s wig and holding a scroll of paper.  His statue dominates the tiny Trinity Churchyard Cemetery in New York City.

VIR AEQUANIMITATIS

JOHN WATTS,

BORN IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK AUGUST 27, 1749 [O.S.]

AND DIED THERE SEPTEMBER 3, 1836. [N.S.]

LAST ROYAL RECORDER OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK,

1774 – 1777. NO RECORDS DURING THE REVOLUTION;

SPEAKER OF ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

JANUARY 5, 1791 – JANUARY 7, 1794.

MEMBER OF CONGRESS 1793 – 1795;

FIRST JUDGE OF WESTCHESTER CO. 1806;

FOUNDER AND ENDOWER OF THE LEAKE AND WATTS

ORPHAN HOUSE IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK; ONE OF

THE FOUNDERS AND AFTERWARDS, PRESIDENT OF

THE NEW YORK DISPENSARY 1821 – 1836. &C. &C. &C.

Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia

Owen F. Solomon

1829 – September 27, 1859

Carved atop a shaft of white marble rests a pillow with the hat of a soldier.  There are four symbols on this monument: the soldier’s hat, a sword, the laurel wreath, and the Masonic symbol.  With the exception of the later, the others refer to Solomon’s service in the Army.

The entry (#1596) in Bvt. Major-General George Washington Cullum’s (Colonel, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army) Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, from Its Establishment March 16, 1802 to the Army Reorganization of 1866-67, Second Edition, Volume 2 (published by D. Van Nostrand, 192 Broadway, New York, 1891) details his military career:

Military History:

Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1849, to July 1, 1853, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Bvt. Second Lieut. of Artillery, July 1, 1853.

Served: in garrison at Ft. Moultrie, South Carolina, 1853, — and Ft. Myers,

(Second Lieut., 4th Artillery, Nov. 25, 1853)

Fla., 1853‑54; on frontier duty at Ft. Brady, Michigan, 1854‑55, — and Ft. Brown, Texas, 1856; in garrison at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, 1856‑57; (First Lieut., 4th Artillery, Oct. 31, 1856)

Florida Hostilities against the Seminole Indians, 1857‑58; and on frontier duty at Ft. Leavenworth, as Acting Asst. Adjutant-General, Feb. 6 to May 18, 1858, in quelling Kansas Disturbances, — and Ft. Laramie, Dakota Territory, 1858‑59.

Solomon died, Sep. 27, 1859, at Ft. Laramie, Dakota Territory.

Owen F. Solomon was 30 years old.  His body was brought to Atlanta, Georgia, and he was buried in the Oakland Cemetery.

The monument bears his name within a laurel wreath but the other details are illegible.  The laurel wreath dates back to Roman times when soldiers wore them as triumphal signs of glory. The laurel was also believed to wash away the soldier’s guilt from injuring or killing any of his opponents. In funerary art the laurel wreath is often seen as a symbol of victory over death.

Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

IN MEMORY OF

ROBERT McDOUGALL

A MEMBER OF TRUCK Co. No. 3

BROOKLYN

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

WHO RECEIVED SUCH INJURIES

IN THE DISCHARGE OF HIS DUTY

AS A FIREMAN AT A FIRE AT

HARBECK’S PIER JULY 19, 1883

THAT HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE

JULY 25, 1883.

AGED 48 YEARS 1 MONTH

AND 21 DAYS.

_ . _

THIS MEMORIAL STONE WAS

ERECTED TO HIS MEMORY BY HIS

BROTHER FIREMEN OF THE

BROOKLYN FIRE DEPARTMENT

AS A TOKEN OF RESPECT TO A

DEPARTED BROTHER, WHO NOBLY

PERISHED IN THE DISCHARGE

OF HIS DUTY

Mount Peace Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

To the right of the gates of the Mount Peace Cemetery at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, stands an impressive monument to James Bartram Nicholson.  The elegant bronze statue of Nicholson shows him wearing a long frock coat.  He holds papers in one hand.  The only symbol found on the monument are the three interlocking rings, one of the most common symbols for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  The reason for this impressive monument is spelled out on the plaques on the front and back of the granite base.

The plaque on the front of the monument reads:

ERECTED AND DEDICATED MAY 10, 1913 BY THE

INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS

OF PENSYLVANIA

IN MEMORY OF

JAMES BARTRAM NICHOLSON

PAST GRAND SIRE OF SOVEREIGN GRAND LODGE

PAST GRAND MASTER AND GRAND SECRETARY

OF GRAND LODGE OF 1.O.O.F. OF PENNSYLVANIA

IN RECOGNITION OF HIS VALUABLE SERVICES

IN BEHALF OF THE ORDER

The plaque on the backside of the monument reads:

JAMES BARTRAM NICHOLSON

BORN IN ST. LOUIS MISSOURI 1820

INITIATED INTO CHOSEN FRIENDS LODGE NO. 100

APRIL 8, 1845

RECEIVED THE PATRIACHAL DECREES

IN MOUNT OLIVE ENCAMPMENT 1848

ADMITTED INTO GRAND LODGE 1848

ADMITTED INTO GRAND ENCAMPMENT 1849

GRAND WARDEN OF GRAND LODGE OF PENNSYLVANIA

MAY 1851

DEPUTY GRANS MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE

1852

GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE 1853

GRAND REPRESNTATIVE TO THE

SOVERIGN GRAND LODGE 1859

GRAND SIRE OF THE SOVEREIGN GRAND LODGE OF THE UNITED STATES 1862

GRAND SECRETARY OF THE GRAND LODGE OF

PENNSYLVANIA JANUARY 1869

GRAND SCRIBE OF THE GRAND ENCAMPMENT OF

PENNSYLVANIA JANUARY 1869

DIED IN PHILADELPHIA PA MARCH 4 1901

Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts

Here lyes buried

The body of

Mrs. SARAH MORTON

Wife of Mr. LEMUEL MORTON

Who departed this Life

April 17^th 1785 in ye 23

Year of her Age.

In Her. United all that’s fair & good,

Short was her Race yet Virtues Path she tred.

The gray slate gravestone of Mrs. Sarah Morton displays a youthful looking soul effigy, or winged cherub.  The wings curve down framing the face and the eyes stare blankly forward.  Here, the young bride of only 23 years old is buried on Burial Hill at Plymouth, Massachusetts, the home of the Mayflower passengers and their descendants.

The two-line epitaph extolls her virtues and gives a hint at the sadness of her early death by speaking of the shortness of her Race.  But, notice how the word tred in the second line of the epitaph is tucked in between the two lines indicating that the stone carver had not planned it out completely. What a reminder of so many art projects past. Not enough time to re-do the project. At least they weren’t in stone for all of posterity to see!